Ear device for deaf



C. CLARK.

EAR DEVICE FOR DEAF.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1919.

1,408,500. Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE.

CLAIBORN CLARK,- or nos, A GEL s, cALironnrA.

EAR DEVICE FOR DEAF.

" Application filed May 26,

To ZZZ/whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLMBORN'CLARK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ear Devices for Deaf, of which the following is a-speciiication.

The present invention relates to improvements in ear devices forthe deaf, and it is an object of the invention to provide an extremely simple and effective device that will greatly assist people who are affiicted with deafness.

The present invention provides a device that may be comfortably worn in the ear and which greatly. assists the wearer to hear. The invention embodies a tubular sound receiver in which is mounted a vibrator or tongue. The sound receiver issubstantially a cone shaped tube and is so shaped that it may be easily and comfortably carried in the outer passage way of the ear. The tongue is a sensitive thin metal member which extends diametrically across the-inside of the sound re ceiver. ,The tongue is attached tothe sound receiver'atthe outer or large end and extends freely inwardly through the receiver effectively vibrate.

to or near the small end. The tongue acts as a division wall, as it.divides the interior of the receiver into two parts. The shape of the'tongue conforms with the shape of theinside of the receiver, that is, the edges of the tongue are parallel to the inside wall of the receiver. The tongue being of thin sensitive metal and shaped as just described, is caused to vibrate by faint sounds. When the device is in the ear sou waves easily enter the large end of the receiver and the interior shape of the receiver is such as to concentrate them and cause the tongue to An opening in the small end of the receiver-forms a passage way through which the sound, which is caught by the receiver and intensified by the vibrator, may readily pass and act upon the in ner organs of the ear. The details of construction of the invention and further features of it wi1l bereadily understood from the following detailed description of a specific preferred form of the invention throughout which'reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the devlce; Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the device taken as indicated by line 2--2 on Fig. 1;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

1919. Serial No. 299,933

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the device taken as indicated by line on Fig. 2; and Fig. at shows a. side elevation of a modified form of the device.

In the drawings the numeral 10 designates the tubular conical sound receiver or cup, and numeral ll'designates the diaphragm or tongue which is mounted therein. The cup 10 is shaped as clearly shown in Fig. 3, the configuration of its outer surface conforms very closely with that of a truncated cone. And theinner surface is substantially the same with the exception of a slight shoulder 13 near the outer or larger opening. The small end of the cup 10 is preferably'slightly curved as clearly shown'in Figs. 1 and 3, so as to fi'tthe curvature of the passage way to the inner organs of the car. This slight crooked or curved portion 1O also tends to prevent the device from working or falling out of the ear. The cup shaped portion is preferably made of a metal that will not readily tarnish, discolor or corrode or injure-the ear. It may be found satisfactory, to make the cup out of brass or the like and plate it with such a metal as nickel. In order to make the de-' vice light and 'thereby preventit'from an? noying'or bothering the user, the cup may be madeof a light metal 01' alloy that has the general characteristics hereinabove stated. On the inner surface of the cup a short'distance from the edge 12 of the outer or large end there is a slight'shoulder 18, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. The shoulder is roundedoif insuch a manner as to prevent it from hindering the sound from entering the cup. The wall portion 14 of the inner surface of cup 10, between the edge 12 of the large opening and the shoulder 13, is straight and has no curve or taper, the reason for which will hereinafter be described.

The tongue 11 is firmly held at the outer or large end of the cup. The tongue has a broad portion 15 which extends diametri cally across the'cup and engages the wall den blow or pressure of any kind. The

into the cup and its sides 18 are parallel to but do not touch the inner wall 19' of the cup. As shown in the drawings, the tip 17 preferably does not extend into the curved portion 10 of the cup 10. The tip of the tongue is preferably made broad enough to substantially extend entirely across the cup leaving only a slight clearance between the sides 18 and the wall 19. The tongue member is made of thin resilient metal that will be vibrated by ordinary sounds. 'For instance, I find that a tongue made of hard brass about thick will resonate effectively to ordinary sounds. It may be desirable to make the tongue out of a material that has the same characteristics as the material out of which the cup is made, that is, a ma terial that will'not corrode or become easily discolored. The tongue must also be a durable metal and must be flexible enough to allow it to properly vibrate.

. The entire device should be well finished and all the surfaces should be perfectly smooth. The reasonfor having the outer surfaces smooth is to prevent scratching or injuring the ear, while the reason for having the inner surfaces smooth is to prevent the sound from being deadened. As will be clearly seen in the drawings, the device does not restrict in any way the passage way into the ear but allows the sound to readily pass through it. In the drawings I have shown a cover 20 that, may be slipped over the sound receiver to prevent it from coming in contactwiththe skin. The cover 20 may be made of rubber or the like and covers may be made of various thicknesses so that the device may .be made to fit the ear by using a cover of the proper thickness By maklng the cover of rubber it is very easily slipped over or taken ofl of the receiver.

The general proportionsand shape of the device may be varied without departing from the invention, for instance, a modified form of device is shown in Fig. 4. The form of device shown in Fig. 4 is similar to the preferred form shown in the other figures except that it has not the curved portion 10' at the small end. A device of this kind may be used in a case where the passageway into the ear is disformed or restricted in such a way as to make it'irnossible or inconvenient to use the preferred orm of device.

Having describeda preferred form of my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described,

a tapered cylindrical receiver and a tongue 1n sald receiver, said tongue being attached to said receiver at one end only and extending freely longitudinally into said receiver,

and forming a partition across its interior without touching the receiver wall.

2. In a device of the character described, a tapered cylindrical receiver and a tongue in said receiver, said tongue being attached to said receiver at the large end only and extending freely longitudinally into said receiver toward the small end and forming a partition across its interior without touching the receiver wall.

3. In a device of the character described, I

a tapered cylindrical receiver having a shoulder on the inner surface near the large end and a straight portion between the shoulder and the large end. and a metallic tongue in said receiver, said tongue extending diametrically across said receiver and havinga portion adapted to engage the straight portion of saidreceiver and the rest of said tongue projecting into the tapered receiver and being formed so as to extend across the interior of said tapered receive: as a partition but not to come incontact with the interior wall of the receiver; so

that the projecting part of the tongue is free to vibrate. V

V 4. In a device of the character described, a conical receiver open at both ends and a vibrator mounted therein, said vibrator coni' sisting, of a tapered fiat tongue secured across the interior of the receiver at its larger end, the smaller end extending Lon.- gitudinally into the smaller endof the re ceiver and spaced therefrom to be free to vibrate and forming a partition across the receiver interior.

5. In a device of thecharacter described, a tubular receiver adapted to be placed in sound conveying relation to the ear, and a vibratory partition in said receiver comprising a tongue extending lengthwise of the 

